Partner, UK Partnerships & Programs

Uk (greater London Preferred)RemoteFull Timemid

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Requirements Summary

Work with Convergent leadership to refine our UK expansion roadmap, identify which partnerships and programs align with our mission,

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We're looking for a seasoned executive who can build and scale Convergent's UK presence while navigating the intersection of breakthrough science, institutional design, and UK science policy. As our Partner for UK Operations & Programs, you'll lead our ARIA partnership, run our UK Residency program, build our on-the-ground team and infrastructure, sit on FRO boards, and represent Convergent across the UK science and policy ecosystem. You'll interface with ARIA, UKRI, Innovate UK, and government leadership while maintaining our standards for ambitious, high-integrity science. If you've built teams and organizations from the ground up, understand both startup velocity and UK public sector dynamics, and believe British science policy can actually enable moonshots rather than just talk about them, you'll fit in great here.

What We Offer

~2 min read

Convergent Research exists to bring entirely new scientific institutions into the world: Focused Research Organizations (FROs). These are purpose-built, mission-driven orgs designed to solve technological bottlenecks, unlock whole new fields, and lead to scaled revolutions. Think: "What if Bell Labs, but for single-cell proteomics?" We've launched more than 10 FROs globally and proven that the model works. We've raised over $350 million and catalyzed $300+ million in follow-on investment. Now we're scaling intentionally into the UK, and this is a critical inflection point for that expansion.

Last year, we became an ARIA Activation Partner and ran our first UK Residency program for prospective FRO founders, through which we incubated and selected two new UK FROs for ARIA funding. We also established a legal presence in the UK. This year, we're running Version 2 of the Residency, expanding our physical and operational footprint, deepening our networks across British research institutions and funding bodies, and building the team that will make Convergent a permanent fixture of the UK science ecosystem.

This role is critical because UK expansion represents both massive opportunity and serious operational complexity. The person who joins in this role will be setting a lot of where our UK (and broader European) strategy goes. In addition to a strong strategic leader, we need someone who can work hand in hand with our US-based team to help manage UK-specific infrastructure around hiring, systems, governance, and partnerships while also growing a portfolio of world-class FROs that maintain the speed, ambition, and scientific rigor Convergent is known for. You're joining at a moment that is neither all risk nor all rote—we have early traction and strong partnerships, but plenty of room for experimentation. You'll be joining a team that is ambitious, irreverent, and deeply committed to enabling breakthrough science. If you're excited about building institutions from scratch, UK science policy and innovation ecosystems, and helping founders build lasting organizations without drowning in bureaucracy, this is your role.

As our Partner for UK Operations & Programs, you'll be part strategic operator, part ecosystem builder, part founder boss, part diplomatic envoy, part chief of staff for UK activities. You will:

Requirements

~1 min read

A former operator who wants to build institutions at larger scale
An ex-ARIA Program Director or technical specialist who wants to work more directly with founding teams
A startup operator who wants to bring the innovation mindset to science
A recovering academic administrator who figured out how to make British science move quickly and wants to do it at scale

UK science ecosystem fluency: Deep understanding of British research funding (UKRI, ARIA, Innovate UK), university structures, charity/nonprofit regulations, and how to navigate UK science policy without drowning in process
Program management: Experience designing, running, and iterating cohort-based programs, accelerators, residencies, or similar. You know how to create transformative experiences for participants
Strategic + ops chops: Can build five-year roadmaps and also fix the thing that's broken today
Board experience: Comfort with governance, fiduciary responsibility, and making tough calls. Bonus if you understand UK charity governance specifically
Relationship builder: Extensive network across UK research institutions, funding bodies, or policy circles. People return your emails and actually want to help you
Excellent judgment under uncertainty: Can pressure-test strategy, identify red flags, and make calls with incomplete information
Strong written and verbal communication: Can write for Nature, UKRI grant applications, board memos, and Twitter without changing who you are
Empathy for scientists + healthy disrespect for academic incentives: You want to help brilliant researchers succeed, but you're not precious about "how things are traditionally done"
Comfort with wearing many hats (that may all be on fire)

Nice to Have

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Experience at ARIA, UKRI, Innovate UK, or similar as program director/manager/technical specialist
Track record of securing large UK government grants or running programs for unconventional research models
Deep relationships at Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial, UCL, Edinburgh, or other top research universities
Experience with technology transfer or spinning out companies from UK universities
Previous startup experience in the UK